UC-NRLF 


895 

Mwi 


$B    bl7    7fiS 


1 


SYSTEM  OF  PUNCTUATION 


By  JOHN  G.  R.  McELROY,  A.M. 

PROFESSOR  OF  RHETORIC  AND  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE 
IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


"De  Minimis" 


PHILADELPHIA 

PORTER    &    COATES 

822   CHEST^^UT    STREET 

1878 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  o£  Congress,  in  the  year  1878,  by 

JOHN  G.  R.  Mcelroy, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress.     All  rights  reserved. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLINS,    PRINTER, 

705  Jayne  Street. 


(^n;?T 


NOTE. 


The  following  pages  contain  substantially  the  notes 
of  a  lecture  delivered  to  several  classes  in  the  Univer- 
sity. They  are  printed,  both  in  order  to  save  time  in 
giving  my  own  instruction,  and  in  the  hope  that  this 
method  of  presenting  the  subject  may  recommend 
itself  to  others. 

I  have  tried  different  plans  of  initiating  students  of 
composition  into  the  mystery  of  Punctuation.  The 
least  successful  has  been  that  which  rested  on  usage: 
the  most  successful,  the  one  presented  here.  Even  a 
compromise,  which  stated  the  general  principles  now 
contended  for,  and  then  sent  the  student  to  our  litera- 
ture  for  models,  was  less  productive  of  results  than 
this  effort  to  deduce  a  few  rules  from  the  fundamental 
truths  of  the  subject. 

I  have  aimed  at  the  utmost  brevity  consistent  with 


6C6 


4  NOTE. 

clearness  and  success  in  teaching.  The  teacher  can 
extend  the  discussion  or  multiply  the  examples,  as 
the  wants  of  his  class  may  require. 

University  of  Pennsylvania, 
April  15,  1878. 


A  SYSTEM  OF  PUNCTUATION. 


Punctuation  is  the  art  of  marking  distinctly  for 
the  eye  either  the  construction  of  the  sentence  or 
the  kind  of  sentence  with  which  it  is  used.  To 
a  certain  extent,  this  work  depends  upon  usage; 
but,  on  another  side,  it  is  ultimately  controlled 
by  principles  of  construction  or  thought,  and  de« 
pends  upon  usage  only  so  far  as  usage  truly  repre- 
sents these  laws  of  thought  and  construction.  For 
example,  the  forms  and  meanings  of  the  signs 
(employed  are  matters  of  convention^  or  agreement, 
and  have  been  adopted  with  but  little  regard  to 
their  reasonableness  or  their  unreasonableness. 
But  the  art  of  using  these  stops  correctly  implies 
a  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  construction  of 
the  sentence  and  the  paragraph,  as  well  as  of  the 
character  of  the  thought  expressed.  It  ultimately 
depends,  therefore,  upon  Grammar,  the  science  of 
the  sentence,  and  Logic,  the  science  of  thought. 
The  practice  of  punctuation  can  rest  upon  usage, 
only  w4ien  usage  is  settled ;  that  is,  when  it  has 

1^ 


6  A    SYSTEM   OF   PUNCTUATION. 

SO  completely  justified  itself  at  the  bar  of  Good 
Sense,  that  all  intelligent  and  cultivated  people 
are  agreed  upon  obeying  its  dictates.  This,  it  is 
generally  conceded,  (though  the  concession  is^ome- 
times  forgotten,)  is  the  true  meaning  of  Horace's 
oft-quoted  dictum,  JJ^ws  est  etjus  et  norma  loqueyidi:^ 
this  must  be  what  we  mean  when  we  say  that  usage 
controls  our  syntax  or  our  vocabulary  or  any  other 
department  of  Style.^ 

But  it  will  hardly  be  claimed  that  usage  in 
punctuation  is  settled.  The  popular  verdict  is 
that  the  whole  matter  is  a  question  of  taste,  and 
that  it  is  enough  to  say,  in  reply  to  any  argument 
on  the  merits  of  a  given  case, ''  I  like  the  such-a- 
point  in  that  place."  Occasionally  we  are  told 
that,  since  punctuation  depends  upon  construc- 
tion, he  who  wM'ites  clearly  will  punctuate  clearly, 
—a  doctrine  far  preferable  to  the  other,  though 
scarcely  the  whole  truth,  after  all;  but  it  is 
oftener  held  that  ease  and  grace  in  writing  are 
incompatible  Avith  a  too  careful  use  of  the  points, 
and  that  a  judicious  carelessness  is  as  becoming  as 
an  intentional  dishabille.  Indeed,  it  is  even  hinted 
darkly  that  some  over-particular  persons,  in  their 
search  for  the  form  of  discourse,  have  actually  lost 
sight  of  its  essence,  and  so  have  produced  com- 
positions "  all  body  and  no  soul."  Accordingly, 
general  practice  grows  decidedlj^  careless;  commas 

'    Usage  is  the  law  and  rule  of  speech. 
2  See  Appendix,  I. 


A    SYSTExM    OF   PUNCTUATION.  7 

and  dashes — the  latter  in  tropical  profusion — usurp 
the  offices  of  all  the  other  stops;  the  semi-colon 
remains  but  a  distant  acquaintance ;  and  the  colon 
is  all  but  unknown.^  Editors  complain  that  MSS. 
and  even  letters  reach  them,  that  are  unfitted  for 
publication  by  their  actual  slovenliness  in  this  re- 
spect;  and  teachers  confess  that  many  an  otherwise 
clever  composition  would  serve  as  a  capital  exercise 
in  False  Punctuation.  Even  the  best-printed  edi- 
tions of  our  standard  authors  betray  irregularities 
that  stand  in  strange  contrast  with  their  general 
conformity  to  the  laws  of  Rhetoric  and  Grammar. 
Not  only  do  the  several  writers  punctuate  difter- 
ently,  but  each  single  writer  uses  different  stops 
for  the  same  purpose  and  the  same  stop  in  difterent 
offices.2 


II. 


It  follows,  therefore,  that  a  system  of  punctua- 
tion based  wholly  upon  usage — commonly  called 
an  em.pmcal^  or  a  posteinoyi^  system — cannot,  in  the 
present  state  of  the  art,  be  entirely  successful. 
Scientific  generalization,  (^.  e.^  the  inferring  of  a 

^  See  Appendix,  II. 

2  Proof  of  Uiis  assertion  may  readily  be  found  in  our  litera- 
ture :  it  is  omitted  here  only  for  want  of  space, — a  few  exam- 
ples of  such  irregularities  being  of  little  value  as  evidence, 
and  a  large  number  properly  displayed  covering  a  great  many 
pages. 


8  A    SYSTEM   OF   PUNCTUATION. 

rale  from  a  num)3er  of  characteristic  cases,)  is 
clearly  impossible  from  examples  that  flatly  con- 
tradict each  other.  "If  the  trumpet  give  an  un- 
certain sound,  who  shall  prepare  himself  to  the 
battle?"  Such  systems  serve  only  to  bring  into 
bolder  relief  the  variations  that  are  already  too 
evident  upon  the  face  of  the  literature.  Moreover, 
they  lack  that  logical  unity  which  so  materially 
assists  the  mind  in  remembering  and  applying  the 
rules;  and  must  consist  of  so  many  and  so  minute 
directions,  with  exceptions  more  numerous  even 
than  the  rules,  that  one  is  bewildered  by  this  mul- 
tiplying of  commandments.  Yet,  if  it  is  worth 
while  to  punctuate  at  all, — if  the  marks  of  punc- 
tuation, ''trifles"  though  they  be,  are  in  any  respect 
worthy  of  our  attention, — it  is  surely  desirable  to 
have  a  simple,  clear  and  compact  body  of  rules.^ 
This  we  must  seek  by  a  method  quite  diflterent 
from  that  which  is  pursued  by  the  empirical  sys- 
tems. 

We  turn,  then,  to  the  opposite  method  of  devel- 
opment, the  a  priori^  or  that  which  proceeds  from 
the  necessary  conditions  of  the  subject.  These 
conditions  are  simple  enough  to  be  grasped  by  any 
mind  properly  trained  in  elementary  Grammar, 
and  lead  to  a  few  clear  rules,  which  justify  them- 
selves by  demonstrating  their  own  reasonableness, 
while  they  are  bound  together  by  a  logical  sequence 
that  secures  for  them  essential  unity.     Moreover, 

'  See  Appendix,  III. 


A   SYSTEM   OF    PUNCTUATION.  ^ 

the  rules  are  so  broad,  so  entirely  statements  of 
general  truths  rather  than  arbitrary  enactments, 
that  they  leave  a  writer  all  the  liberty  he  can  pos- 
sibly desire  or  claim  for  his  punctuation  as  a  part 
of  the  communication  of  his  own  thought.  [See 
Sec.  VI.,  below.]  Besides,  it  is  confidently  believed 
that,  by  this  system,  the  whole  subject  is  brouglit 
within  easy  grasp,  and  that  a  greater  degree  of 
consistency  and  uniformity  w-ill  be  promoted  than 
is  possible  by  any  other  plan. 


III. 


The  following  propositions  may  stand  as  postu- 
lates:— 

1.  The  end  in  view  in  punctuation  is  to  mark 
distinctly  for  the  eye  {not  for  the  ear)  either  (A) 
the  construction  of  the  sentence  or  (B)  the  kind 
of  sentence  with  which  it  is  used. 

2.  Only  so  many  marks  will  be  needed  as  are 
required  to  distinguish  the  several  kinds  of  sen- 
tences from  each  other  and  to  separate  the  several 
parts  of  sentences. 


10  A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION. 

3.  Absolute  consistency  and  uniformity  are  im- 
possible: variations  must  occur,  so  long  as  men 
differ  in  judgment  or  in  taste;  and,  provided  they 
do  not  aftect  the  clearness  of  the  sentence,  are  not 
to  be  regretted. 

Let  us  see  whither  these  propositions  will  lead  us. 


IV. 


1.  From  the  principle  that  punctuation  is  ad- 
dressed to  the  eye,  not  to  the  ear,  comes 

Rule  I. — Punctuate  for  meaning,  not  for 
elocution.  L  e.,  use  only  so  many  stops  as 
are  absolutely  necessary  to  show  the  rela- 
tions of  the  several  sentences  or  members 
of  sentences.  More  or  fewer  always  create 
ambiguity,  and  may  lead  to  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  writer.     E,  g,^ 

(1)  But,  at  any  rate,  it  is  a  town  on  a  hill,  wooded  with 
two-and-thirty  bushes,  of  very  uniform  size,  and  possessing 
about  the  same  number  of  leaves  each. 

(2)  Purple,  and  crimson,  and  scarlet,  like  the  curtains  of 
God's  tabernacle,  the  rejoicing  trees  sank  into  the  valley  in 
showers  of  light,  every  separate  leaf  quivering  with  buoyant 
and  burning  life  ;  each,  as  it  turned  to  reflect  or  to  transmit 
the  sunbeam,  first  a  torch  and  then  an  emerald. 


A   SYSTEM   OF   PUNCTUATION.  11 

In  Ex.  (1)  tlie  commas  after  '•hill^^  'bushes^^  and 
'size^  seem  to  show  the  agreement  of  the  following 
clauses  with  '  toion^^  and  not  (as  is  meant)  with 
'  hiir  or  'bushes.'  In  Ex.  (2)  not  a  single  point 
could  be  omitted,  perhaps,  without  endangering 
the  sense. 

2.  Sentences  are  commonly  divided  by  gram- 
marians in  two  ways: — 

(A.)  With  regard  to  their  construction,  into 
{a)  Simple,     (6)  Complex,    {c)  Compound. 

(B.)  With  regard  to  the  kind  of  thought  ex- 
pressed, into 

{a)  Declarative,  including  Imperative,  (6)  In- 
terrogative, (c)  Exclamatory,  {d)  Interjected, 
(e)  Broken,  (/)  Quoted. 

Upon  the  definitions  of  the  simple  and  the  com- 
pound sentence,  all  writers  are  agreed,  as  they  are, 
also,  in  conceding  that  the  elements  of  a  sentence 
(its  subject^  loredicate  and  copula^)  may  be  either 
simple  or  modified  or  compound,  without  chang- 
ing the  character  of  the  sentence ;  but  upon  the 
question  what  is  meant  by  a  complex  sentence, 
they  are  divided.  The  sentence  usually  so  named, 
{b')  a  principal  and  a  dependent  clause, — e.  g.^  Ti- 
tinius,  if  thou  lov'st  me,  mount  thou  my  horse, — • 
is  treated  by  some  grammarians  as  a  modified 
simple  sentence;  w^hile  the  term  'complex'  is  re- 
stricted to  {¥')  a  simple  or  a  compound  sentence 


12  A   SYSTEM   OF   PUNCTUATION. 

''combined  with  elements  that  are  foreign  to  it;" 
e,  g,^  "I  have  tried  Prince  George  sober,"  said 
Charles  the  Second;  "and  I  have  tried  him  drunk; 
and,  drunk  or  sober,  there  is  nothing  in  him."  For 
our  purposes,  luckily,  this  question  need  not  be 
settled,  the  principles  of  punctuation  that  apply 
to  either  {a)  or  {b)  controlling  {b')  equally  well. 

3.  Beginning  with  class  (B.),  w^e  see  at  once  that 
each  of  the  six  kinds  of  sentences  is  indicated  by 
its  own  peculiar  mark  standing  at  the  end  of  the 
sentence  or  enclosing  it. 

Hence,  (a)  the  period,  {b)  the  note  of  interroga- 
tion, or  question-mark,  (c)  the  note  of  exclamation, 
{d)  the  parenthesis  or  brackets  or  dashes,  {e)  the 
single  dash,  and  (/)  the  marks  of  quotation. 

Points  (<i),  (e)  and  (/)  are  used  also  with  clauses, 
phrases,  and  even  single  words;  and  may,  there- 
fore, be  joined  with  other  points  to  show  the  con- 
struction of  the  words  enclosed,  or  even  with  (a), 
(6)  or  {c)  to  mark  the  kind  of  sentence.     E.  g,^ 

(1)  What !  know  you  not  -  -  -  -  you  ought  not  walk  -  -  - 
w^ithout  the  sign  of  your  profession  ? — Speak,  what  trade  art 
thou  ? 

(2)  Coriolanus.  [Drawing  his  sword.] 

(3)  If  we  were  to  read  as  Malone  would  have  us, — "  Making 
not  reservation  of  yourselves, — it  would  imply  -  -  -  . 

]S"oTE. — The  period  has,  besides,  some  conven- 
tional uses,  as  in  abbreviations,  etc.  [See  Eule  IX., 


A    SYSTEM   OF   PUNCTUATION.  13 

Note.]  Commas  are  occasionally  substituted  for 
the  parenthesis;  but  this  seems  hardly  in  keeping, 
unless  the  words  interjected  form  only  a  modifying 
clause.  The  change  appears  to  have  been  suggested 
by  the  teaching  of  Rhetoric  against  long  paren- 
theses and  too  many  of  them  ;  but  the  vice  of  the 
construction  is  certainly  not  cured  by  removing 
the  sign  of  its  true  character  and  putting  in  its 
place  one  that,  in  all  likelihood,  will  only  increase 
the  obscurity.  Besides,  the  very  form  of  the 
parenthesis  is  well  suited  to  indicate  the  kind  of 
sentence  it  encloses.  The  dashes,  also,  are  clear  in 
this  respect ;  and  are,  therefore,  used  interchange- 
ably with  the  parenthesis,  except  that  they  cannot 
mark  (1)  a  sentence  independent  in  construction, 
and  parenthetical  to  two  others  that  would  have 
to  be  separated  by  a  period,  if  they  stood  together; 
or  (2)  a  parenthesis  of  any  sort  that  concludes  an 
independent  sentence.      Thus^ 

(1)  Therefore  we  are  always  confident,  knowing  that  whilst 
we  are  at  home  in  the  body,  w^e  are  absent  from  the  Lord. 
(For  we  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.)  We  are  confident,  I 
say . 

(2)  Greet  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  my  helpers  in  Christ  Jesus : 
(who  have  for  my  life  laid  down  their  own  necks :  unto  whom 
not  only  I  give  thanks,  but  also  all  the  churches  of  the  Gen- 
tiles.) 

In  the  following,  however,  the  dashes,  alone  or 
with  commas,  could  readily  have  been  used : — 
2 


14  A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION.       - 

(3)  Know  ye  not,  brethren,  (for  I  speak  to  them  that  know 
the  law,)  how ?' 

The  brackets  are  generally  reserved  to  mark 
such  interjected  matter  as  is  quite  foreign  to  the 
thought  expressed  in  tlie  sentence  : — 

(1)  Corrections,  con}nients  or  additions  by  a 
second  hand;  (2)  explanatory  signs;  and  (3)  mat- 
ter so  irrelevant  that  it  might  have  been  omitted, 
or,  at  least,  have  been  p^laced  in  a  note.     E.g,^ 

(1)  The  country  in  the  extreme  northwest  [east?] . 

(1)  This  [Lepidus]  is  a  slight,  unmeritable  man. 

(1)  The  confidence  of  the  community,  [and  the  place  of 
head,]  -  -  -  -  . 

(2)  The  asterisk  [*]  is  used  -  -  -  -  . 

C3)  Lord  Macaulay's  works  [London:  Longmans,  Green, 
and  Co.  1871]  are . 

But,  upon  this  point,  usage  is  divided  ;  and  no 
good  reason  can,  perhaps,  be  given  for  the  practice 
described  above,  except  the  propriety  of  uniformity 
in  writing. 

In  Spanish  books  the  note  of  interrogation  in- 
verted \i\  is  placed  before  a  question  to  give  warning 
to  the  reader.     What  a  multitude  of  misreadings 

^  I  do  not  hesitate  to  quote  Scripture  for  this  purpose, 
because  (1)  the  punctuation  of  the  Bible  is  no  part  of  the 
W^ork  as  originally  written  ;  and  (2)  if,  by  quoting  it  in  this 
w^ay,  I  impress  any  one  with  the  feeling  that  this  marvellous 
literary  product  is  one  that  no  educated  English-speaking  man 
dare  be  ignorant  of,  I  shall  at  least  prepare  the  way  for  that 
higher  appreciation  of  it  as  a  revelation  of  infinite  importance 
to  every  mortal. 


A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION.  15 

and  re-readings,  would  be  prevented  by  the  adop- 
tion of  this  sign  in  Englisli! 
From  all  this  we  get 

Rule  II. — The  close  (a)  of  a  declarative 
or  an  imperative  sentence  is  marked  by  the 
period;  (h)  of  an  interrogative  sentence,  by 
the  qnestion-mark;  and  (c)  of  an  exclama- 
tory sentence,  b}^  the  note  of  exclamation, 
(c?)  Interjected  sentences  or  parts  of  sen- 
tences mnst  be  enclosed  within  the  paren- 
thesis or  (except  in  the  cases  specified  above) 
the  dashes  or  (if  the  interjected  matter  be 
quite  foreign  to  the  main  thought,)  the 
brackets,  (e)  Broken  sentences  take  the 
single  dash  at  the  point  at  which  the  change 
of  construction  (anacoluthon)  or  the  tem- 
porary halt  (suspension)  occurs,  (f)  Quo- 
tations take  quotation-marks  before  and  after 
them.  Further,  any  other  mark  of  punctua- 
tion may  stand  with  the  parenthesis,  dashes, 
brackets  or  quotation-marks,  to  indicate  the 
construction  or  the  character  of  the  matter 
enclosed.  [See  Rules  VII.-X.,  helow^  and 
clauses  (&)  and  (c),  aboveJ] 

xfoTE. — The  distinction  between  ".    "  and  '    '  is 
well  known  ;  but,  recently,  some  writers  have  in- 


16  A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION. 

trodueed  the  directly  opposite  practice,  apparently 
because  it  would  seem  reasonable  to  mark  a  single 
quotation  by  the  single  signs,  and  a  double  quota- 
tion b}"  the  same  signs  used  twice.  Moreover,  it 
is  easier  to  write  '  '  than  "  ";  so  that  economy 
would  seem  to  demand  a  change  of  usage,  unless, 
indeed,  the  confusion  incident  u[)On  such  a  change 
at  this  late  day  w^ould  more  than  counterbalance 
the  gain. 

The  following  passages  illustrate  the  use  of  the 
single  dash  : — 

*' You  don't  mean  to  \e]\  an  honest  man'^ — he  was  recom- 
mencing -  -  -  ,  when  his  05^6  became  fascinated  -  -  -  -  . 
[Anacoluthon.] 

He  wore  it  the  last  time  you  ever  saw  him,  and  tlie  last 
time  you  ever  will  see  him — in  this  world.     [Suspension.] 

4.  Again,  our  sentences  require  punctuation  to 
indicate  their  construction.  Recurring  to  the 
classification,  [2.  (A.),  above j]  we  may  state  the 
following  principles. 

Rule  III. — The  simple  sentence  (a)  needs 
no  punctuation  (1);  except, ^rsif,  in  an  ele- 
ment that  is  modified  by  a  word  or  words 
not  in  the  same  construction  (2),  or  by  a 
compound  modifier  the  parts  of  which  are 
not  connected  by  conjunctions  (3),  except 
(sometimes)  the  last  tw^o  (4);  and,  second, 
in  a  compound  element  the  parts  of  which 


A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION.  17 

are,  in  like  manner,  loft  nnconnected  (5), 
(6).  Other  modified  elements  (7)  and  com- 
ponnd  elements  and  modifiers  whose  parts 
are  connected  (8),  should  properly  be  left 
unpunctuated,  except  when  a  point  is  neces- 
sary to  prevent  a  misconstruction  of  the 
sentence  (9).  But  in  cases  (4),  (G)  and  (8) 
common  practice  varies  under  the  privilege 
of  III.  (3)/     Thus, 

(1)  The  general  was  conscious. 

(2)  Bacon,  a  more  acute  and  dispassionate  observer  than 
the  historian  of  Friedrich,  and  practically  acquainted  with  the 
ends  and  expedients  of  kings,  has  left  us  -  -  -  -  . 

(3)  With  all  his  learning  [he  was]  a  vain,  warm-hearted, 
childlike  man. 

(4)  A  dark,  monotonous,  and  melancholy  grey  tint. 

(4)  You  perceive  old,  rusty  and  dilapidated  towers. 

(5)  We   ourselves are   often   very  credulous,  very 

impatient,  very  shortsighted,  -  -  -  -  . 

(6)  Steevens,  Uallani,  and  Dyce  are  unreasonably  scepti- 
cal   . 

(6)  All  that  were  requisite  w^ere  joyousness,  beauty  and 
adornment. 

(7)  A  glossary  to  Hooker  would  be  at  least  ten  times  as  large 
as  a  glossary  to  an  equal  amount  of  writing  by  Sydney. 

(8)  Hence  is  the  inner  life  of  so  many  suffering  women 
Sunless  and  silent  and  deep. 

^  When  the  words  (or  phrases  or  clauses)  connected  by 
'and'  are  distributive  or  di>tjunctive  in  meaning,  the  stops 
seem  necessary.     [See  Rule  I.,  Ex.  (2).] 

0-5f 


18  A    SYSTEM    OF   PUNCTUATION. 

(8)  All  who  beheld  it  rcjmced,  and  praised  the  Lord,  and 
took  courage. 

(8)  The  babies  were  out  in  full  force,  looking  as  gay  and 
delicate  and  sweet  as  the  snow-drops,  hyacinths,  and  daffodils. 

(8)  Thou  neither  great  at  court,  nor  in  the  war, 

ISTor  at  the  exchange  shalt  be,  nor  at  the  wrangling  bar. 

(9)  At  that  date  he  endeavored  to  gain  admission  into  Par- 
liamisnt  as  burgess  for  Midhuist,  and  was  defeated  -  -  -  -  . 

(9)  See  Ex.  (2),  the  comma  after  Triedricli.' 

Note. — Inversions  (1)  and  important  ellipses  (2) 
require  punctuation  in  contradiction  of  this  rule. 
But,  on  this  point,  writers  make  very  free  use  of 
both  their  judgment  and  their  taste.      Thiis^ 

(1)  At  nine  o'clock,  she  bade  him  "good  night." 

(2)  J,  to  herd  with  narrow  foreheads  ! 

But, 

(1)  In  the  twilight  he  had  a  good  lounge  on  the  sofa. 

(2)  I  the  heir  of  all  the  ages ! 

(2)  Reading  maketh  a  full  man,  conference  a  ready  man, 
and  writing  an  exact  man. 

KuLE  lY. — The  complex  sentence  of  the 
form  (&')  will  require  punctuation  to  separate 
its  clauses  from  each  other  (1);  of  the  form 
(&"),  to  distinguish  "foreign  elements''  from 
the  rest  of  the  sentence.     Tlius^ 

(1)  If  your  majesty,  after  all  that  has  happened,  has  still 
any  hope  of  safety  in  arms,  we  have  done. 

(2)  See  Ex.  (&'0  in  paragraph  2,  alom. 


A   SYSTEM    OF   PUNCTUATION.  19 

Of  course,  the  several  clauses  of  a  complex  sen- 
tence must  also  be  punctuated  as  independent  sen- 
tences. 

Rule  Y. — The  compound  sentence  (c) 
will  require  double  punctuation,  (1)  to  sepa- 
rate its  members,  and  (2)  to  show  the  con- 
struction of  these  members  as  independent 
sentences.     Thus, 

(1)  and  (2)  Art  is  long,  and  Time  is  fleeting, 

And  our  liearts,  tliongli  stout  and  brave, 
Still,  like  muffled  drums,  are  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave. 

Sentences  of  the  classes  (h)  and  (c)  may  become 
quite  intricate,  but  they  can  always  be  readily 
punctuated  by  the  process  here  indicated,  viz., 

Rule  VI. — In  all  complex  and  compound 
sentences,  treat  each  main  division  of  the 
sentence  as  a  sentence  by  itself. 


We  can  now  see  how  many  marks  will  be  needed 
to  indicate  all  these  relations, external  and  internal. 

Firsts  to  indicate  the  kinds  of  sentences,  the  stops 
enumerated  in  Rule  T.  will  be  more  than  enough. 
For  the  brackets  and  the  dashes  are  alternatives 
of  the  parenthesis,  and  tlie  double  quotation-marks 


20  A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION. 

virtunll y  the  same  as  the  single  signs  of  quotation. 
These  marks  may,  therefore,  be  counted  as  six. 

Second^  to  show  the  construction  of  our  sentences, 
only  two  marks  will  be  required, — each,  however, 
in  two  forms : — 

I.  (1)  The  Period,  to  separate  complete  sen- 
tences; and 

II.  (1)  The  Comma,  to  separate  modifiers  from 
the  words  wliich  they  modify,  and  the  parts  of  a 
compound  construction  from  each  other. 

But  the  too  constant  use  of  the  period  gives 
rise  (1)  to  a  great  many  short  sentences  in  pas- 
sages in  which  important  considerations  forbid 
our  adopting  a  broken  style,  and  (2)  to  the  com- 
plete isolation  of  cUiuses  that  are  closely  connected 
in  thought.     Hence, 

I.  (2)  The  Colon,  or  Short  Period. 

Again,  in  long  sentences,  the  too  constant  use 
of  the  comma  creates  obscurity ;  and,  even  in  short 
sentences,  the  degree  of  relation  in  thought  between 
the  members  cannot  always  be  accurately  expressed 
with  a  single  sign.     Hence, 

II.  (2)  The  Semi-colon,  or  Long  Comma. 

From  these  principles  we  get 

EuLE  YII. — The  Period  is  used  to  sepa- 
rate complete  declarative  and  imperative 
sentences. 

Rule  YIII.— The  Colon,  or  Short  Period, 
separates  complete  declarative  and  impera- 


A    SYSTEM    OF   PUNCTUATION.  21 

tive  sentences  which,  though  independent  in 
grammatical  construction,  are  closely  con- 
nected in  thought  (1);  or  in  which  it  is 
desired  to  preserve  a  flowing,  as  opposed  to 
a  broken,  style  (2).     E.g.^ 

(1)  I  cannot  tell  thee,  Harry,  how  lonely  I  felt  in  that  place, 
amidst  the  scandal  and  squabbles :  I  regretted  my  prison 
almost.     [Thackeray,  Fir^t^2a?is,  II.  vii.] 

(2)  They  had,  however,  he  assured  them,  nothing  to  fear 
from  him  :  he  would  keep  their  secret :  he  could  not  help 
wishing  them  success ;  but  his  conscience  would  not  suffer 
him  to  take  an  active  part  in  a  rebellion.  [Macaulay,  History 
of  England.  ] 

Corollary. — The  Colon  is  replaced  by  the  period, 
even  when  the  connection  of  thought  is  very  close, 
if  the  writer  intentionally  adopts  the  broken  style 
(1)  and  (2),  or  under  the  general  rule  of  Sec.  III. 
(8).     Kg., 

(1)  Look  here,  gentlemen!  This  is  he.  This  is  my  brother, 
that  w^as  dead  and  is  alive  again  !  [Thackeray,  Virginians^ 
II.  vii.] 

(2)  Imagine  a  well  meaning  laborious  mechanic  fondly  at- 
tached to  his  wife  and  children.  Bad  times  come.  He  sees 
the  wife  whom  he  loves  grow  thinner  and  paler  every  (Jay. 
His  little  ones  cry  for  bread  ;  and  he  has  none  to  give  them. 

Then  come  the  professional  agitators,  the  tempters, . 

[Macaulay,  Speech  on  ^^The  People's  Gharter'\} 

(3)  The  historian  tells  either  what  is  false  or  what  is  true. 
In  the  former  case  he  is  no  historian.  In  the  latter,  he  has 
no  opportunity  for  displaying  his  abilities. 


22  A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION. 

]^OTE. — The  Period  and  the  Colon  have  certain 
conventional  uses: — 

(a)  The  Period,  to  mark  an  abbreviation. 

(6)  The  Colon,  (or  Colon  and  Single  Dash,)  to 
introduce  enumerations  and  direct  quotations. 

[But  see,  also,  Note  2  to  Rule  X.] 

EuLE  IX. — The  Comma  separates  from 
modified  elements  those  modifiers  which  re- 
quire separation  (1),  [Rule  III.  (2) ;]  marks 
the  parts  of  compound  modifiers  and  ele- 
ments (2);  indicates  inversions  and  im- 
portant ellipses  (3);  and  may  even  divide 
the  several  clauses  of  complex  and  com- 
pound sentences  (4).     JE.  g,, 

(1)  Sentence  (2),  Rule  III. 

(2)  Sentences  (3),  (4),  (5),  (6)  and  (8),  Rule  III. 

(3)  Examples  under  Rule  III.,  Note. 

(4)  Examples  under  Rules  IV.  and  Y. 

Note. — The  omission  of  connectives  does  not 
change  the  character  of  a  true  compound  sentence ; 
as  may  be  seen  by  supplying  the  omitted  words. 

TIius^ 

Love  is  sunshine,  liate  is  shadow. 
Life  is  checkered  shade  and  sunshine. 

{Cf.  Sentences  (3)  and  (5)  under  Rule  III.)  But  in  the 
examples  under  Rule  VIII.  we  have  an  entirely  different  con- 
struction. 


A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION.  23 

Rule  X. — The  Semi-colon,  or  Long  Com- 
ma, separates  the  members  of  a  compound 
sentence,  when  they  are  less  closely  con- 
nected in  thonght  but  quite  closely  connect- 
ed in  construction  (1);  and  this  especially, 
if  the  members  are  themselves  divided  by 
commas  (2).  When  the  compound  sentence 
consists  of  more  than  two  members,  and  the 
connecting  word  is  omitted  except  between 
the  last  two,  the  case  is  exactly  analogous  to 
(4)  and  (6)  under  Rule  III.  (3).     Thus, 

(1)  Oxford  was  placed  in  the  chair;  and  the  King's  over- 
tures were  taken  into  consideration. 

(2)  But  Drayton's  first  publication,  *  Plarmony  of  the 
Church,'  1591,  versified  the  highest  poetry  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  loftily  disclaimed ;  while  the  poetical  name 

that  he  assumed  was  Rowland  or  Roland,  the  most  heroic 
name  in  chivalry. 

(3)  His  "Nymphidia"  is  a  pretty  burlesque  of  love,  jealousy, 
combat,  and  reconciliation  -  -  -  -  ;  his  *'Polyolbion,"  a  mira- 
cle   ,  contains  -  -  -  ;  one,  at  least,  of  his  sonnets  (that 

quoted  in  -  -  -  -  )  is ;  and  his  poem  on  the  Battle  of 

Agincourt  is  vivid,  stirring, . 

Corollary. — The  Comma  may  sometimes  be 
used  instead  of  the  Semi-colon,  if  the  chxuses  are 
very  short.      Jlius^ 

It  looks  to  an  end,  and  it  is  the  proper  province  of  Ethics  -  -  . 

1^^  This  liberty,  however,  (if,  indeed,  it  be  not 
a  license,)  should  be  used  most  sparingly. 


24  A    SYSTEM    OF   PUNCTUATION. 

IToTE  1. — The  connectives  may  all  be  omitted 
in  this  case  also,  without  changing  the  compound 
character  of  the  sentence;  and  the  mark  required 
be  the  semi-colon,  not  the  colon.  [Cf,  Note  to 
Rule  IX.]  The  distinction  between  the  serui- 
colon  and  the  comma  is  the  same  in  this  case  as 
in  those  already  instanced.      Thus^ 

Never  touch  what  is  not  your  own ;  never  take  liberties 
with  sacred  things.     [Sc.  and.] 

Note  2. — The  Comma  and  the  Semi-colon  have 
also  certain  conventional  uses : — 

(a)  The  Comma,  (or  Comma  and  Single  Dash,) 
to  introduce  a  direct  quotation. 

(6)  The  Semi-colon,  to  introduce  enumerations, 
examples,  etc.,  that  are  preceded  by  'a^,'  'to  ivit^' 
'viz,^^  ^ e- g.^  '/.  ^.,'  'A.  ^./  etc.,  when  these  stand  as 
continuous  parts  of  sentences.  Otherwise,  the 
period  precedes,     ^-g-, 

((2)  And  he  said  with  a  smile,  "Our  ship,  I  wis, 

Shall  be  of  another  form  than  this." 
(a)  And  he  cried,  with  impulse  strong, — 
''Helmsman  !  for  the  love  of  heaven, 
Teach  me,  too,  that  wondrous  song!" 

(5)  To  this  class  belong  -  -  -  verbs signifying 

to  quarrel  with ;  as   jua^^^-^aj  toTc  ©n^aioic 

(5)  The  dative  of  possession,  after  et^/ and  similar 

verbs.     E.  g.  uoWoi  f/,oi  (pixot  giVtv. 


In  (6),  most  writers  use  a  comma  after  the 
connective,  on  the  principle  of  (a)  of  this  Note. 
Kg., 


A    SYSTEM    OF    PUXCTUATION.  25 

Tlie  inseparable  preposition  re  or  red  is  short;  as,  reniitto. 

But  the  difference  of  usage  in  this  case  is,  of 
course,  immaterial. 

[The  *^ etymological"  points,(the  Hyphen,  Apostrophe,  etc.,) 
are  purposely  left  unnoticed,  as  they  seem  to  belong  to  orthog- 
raphy, rather  than  to  punctuation.] 

VI. 

It  would  not  be  extravagant,  perhaps,  to  expect 
from  an  analysis  of  this  kind  an  absolute  system 
of  punctuation — a  code  of  rules  to  which  all  point- 
ing must  conform.  Based  upon  the  essential  doc- 
trine of  the  sentence,  and  exemplified  by  actual 
cases  from  our  best  writers,  these  rules  most  cer- 
tainly seem  to  promise  absolute  consistency  and 
uniformity,  provided  only  that  their  application 
be  always  guided  by  a  correct  judgment.  But 
further  consideration  will  show  us  why  this  can- 
not be.  "Punctuation  is  one  of  the  means  of  com- 
munication between  a  writer  and  his  readers;" 
and  it  would  be  arrant  presumption  to  attempt  to 
decide  for  a  competent  writer  what  he  intended  to 
say.  Besides,  it  would  be  far  too  much  to  expect 
that  upon  such  points  as  underlie  these  rules,  dif- 
ferent minds  should  think  alike.  The  relations 
of  several  thoughts  to  each  other,  and  that  of  a 
single  thought  to  its  modifiers,  may  be  conceived 
by  several  minds  in  as  many  ways;  and  punctua- 
tion wull  vary  accordingly.  To  look  no  deeper, 
3 


26  A   SYSTEM   OF   PUNCTUATION. 

analysis  by  verbal  parsing  is  essentially  different 
from  that  by  phrasal  parsing,  and  must  give  dif- 
ferent results.  Moreover,  a  question  of  punctua- 
tion is  often  a  question  of  taste ;  and  the  tastes  of 
men  (it  need  not  be  said)  admit  of  many  degrees 
of  cultivation.  Let  us  exemplify  these  positions 
in  a  few  simple  cases. 

(1)  There  is  no  one  who  can  read  the  history  of  any  of  these 
heroes  of  the  moral  scene  wliose  life  has  been  one  continued 
deed  of  generosity  to  mankind,  without  feeling  that  if  there 
be  virtue  on  earth,  there  has  been  virtue  in  tliat  bosom  whicli 
has  suffered  much  or  dared  much  that  the  world  might  be  free 
from  any  of  the  ills  which  disgraced  it. 

Omitting  details,  we  can  see  at  once  that  the 
following  variations  are  permissible.  Indeed,  it 
would,  perhaps,  be  difficult  to  find  a  better  example 
of  allowable  differences  of  punctuation. 

(1^)  There scene, mankind, that,  - — —  earth, 

(2) 

much, it. 

(P)    There scene, mankind,  —  feeling,    that, 

(1)  (2) 

earth, much, much, it. 

(2)  Already  the  orange  riband  had  the  double  signification 
which,  after  the  lapse  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  years,  it  still 
retains. 

The  commas  are  due  to  the  inversion,  (used  in 
order  to  make  'retains'  emphatic;)  but,  in  so  short 
a  sentence,  they  might  readily  have  been  omitted. 

In 

(3)  For  when  we  w-ere  yet  without  strength,  in  due  time, 
Christ  died  -  -  -  -  . 


A    SYSTEM   OF    PUNCTUATION.  27 

the  punctuation  is  not  amiss,  if  not   absolutely 
necessary;  but  in 

(4)  This  is  done,  more  or  less,  by  all  the  old  Masters, 
without  an  exception. 

the  pointing  would  seem  to  be  excessive. 

(5)  The  words  'perhaps,'  'indeed,'  'accordingly,'  etc.  are 
(generally  commaed  off,  because  they  stand  for  'it  may  be,' 

'to  state  the  fact,'  'in  accordance  with  this ,'  etc.     [See 

Rule  IV.  (&")•] 

Questions  of  taste  are  much  more  delicate  and 
much  more  difficult  to  decide.  By  his  pointing 
of  the  following,  the  author  presents  to  the  eye, 
as  his  words  do  to  the  mind,  the  deep,  overpower- 
ing emotions  that  were  controlling  his  hero: — 

(ly  Harry  was  greatly  moved,  too.  He  knelt  down  by  her. 
He  seized  her  cold  hand,  and  kissed  it.  He  told  her,  in  his 
artless  way,  how  very  keenly  he  had  felt  her  love  for  him. 
He  bowed  his  comely  head  over  her  hand.  She  felt  hot  drops 
from  his  eyes  raining  on  it.     She  had  loved  this  boy. 

In  ordinary  narrative  his  punctuation  is  differ- 
ent.    Kg., 

(2)  She  lost;  she  won  ;  she  cheated;  she  pawned  her  jewels  ; 
w^ho  knows  what  else  she  was  not  ready  to  pawn,  so  as  to 
find  funds  to  supply  her  fury  for  play  ! 

Again,  compare  with  the  last  sentence  of  (2)  the 
final  clause  of 

(3)  Look  here,  gentlemen  !  This  is  he.  This  is  my  brother, 
that  was  dead  and  is  alive  again  !  Can  any  man  in  Christendom 
produce  such  a  brother  as  this? 

Even  as  a  question  of  taste,  it  seems  doubtful 


28  A    SYSTEM    OF   PUNCTUATION. 

Avhetlier  the  !  should  not  huve  been  used  in  (3), 
and  the  ?  in  (2). 

VII. 

Such,  then,  is  the  a  priori  system  of  punctuation. 
That  it  is  reasonable  seems  hardly  to  admit  of 
doubt ;  for  its  fandaraenta  are  essential  truths  of 
language.  That  it  is  practicable  seems  equally 
clear;  for  it  finds  ready  exemplification  in  the 
usage  of  our  best  writers.  The  passages  cited, 
however,  are  not  given,  as  they  are  in  the  a  poste- 
riori codes,  in  justijicaiion  of  the  rules:  they  are 
intended  simply  as  examples,  to  illustrate  the 
working  of  the  rules.  The  rules  themselves  de- 
pend, as  we  have  seen,  upon  principles  of  thought 
and  construction.  Still,  the  fact  that  our  standard 
authors  show  by  their  usage  that  these  principles 
have  influenced  their  minds  as  they  wrote,  is  a 
further  proof  of  the  value  and  correctness  of  the 
rules  deducible  from  these  principles ;  and  this, 
too,  although  the  same  writers  show  quite  as 
clearly  by  another  and  a  widely  dilferent  usage 
that  these  principles  were  not  invariably  their 
guides.  For  it  would  seen  unquestionable  that 
between  a  usage  based  upon  the  necessary  condi- 
tions of  the  subject  and  one  that  contradicts  these 
necessary  conditions,  there  can  be  no  choice:  the 
former  must  be  given  the  preference. 

Further,  a  glance  at  the  most  prominent  features 


A    SYSTEM    OF    PUNCTUATION.  29 

of  the  a  priori  system  will  show  us  still  other 
reasons  for  preferring  it.  (1)  It  relates  the  semi- 
colon, m  value^  to  the  comma,  not  to  the  colon; 
and  describes  the  colon  as,  in  fact,  a  period,  though 
shorter  than  the  full  stop.  Contrast  this  view  with 
the  doctrine  of  tlie  older  systems: — 

Period  =  1, 

Colon  =  |, 

Semi-colon  =  J, 

Comma  =  J^. 

Then  grant,  for  tlie  sake  of  the  argument,  that 
this  wondrous  calculus  is  an  exact  statement  of 
the  relations  of  these  stops.  Is  it  not  a  more  dif- 
ficult conception  of  their  relations?  Does  it  not 
establish  two  relations  each  for  the  colon  and  the 
semi-colon,  one  up  and  one  down  ?  And  what  are 
its  results?  Simply,  that  uniformity  of  usage  for 
these  two  stops  has  hitherto  been  impossible.  Tlie 
semi-colon  first  usurps  the  office  of  the  colon,  driv- 
ing it  almost  out  of  use;  and  then  makes  bold  to 
be  even  a  period,  reminding  one  of  Dr.  Franklin's 
sarcasm  on  the  people  of  England  just  before  the 
American  Revolution, —  "they  have  jostled  them- 
selves into  the  throne  with  the  King."  To  speak 
quite  moderately,  it  certainly  seems  unfortunate 
that  a  stop  which  is  often  but  little  stronger  than 
the  comma,  the  least  of  all  the  stops,  should  be 
allowed  to  replace  the  period,  the  sign  of  the  com- 
pleted  sentence.     By  the  method   here  proposed 

3-^ 


30  A    SYSTEM   OF    PUNCTUATIOX. 

the  colon  and  tlie  semi-colon  are  kept  entirely 
distinct,  an  allowable  interchange  taking  place 
between  stops  of  the  same  order,  (the  period  and 
the  colon  or  the  comma  and  the  semi-colon,)  but 
never  betw^een  stops  of  a  different  order.  (2)  The 
a  ijriori  system  assigns  as  the  leading  principle  in 
punctuation,  not  the  degree  of  closeness  of  relation 
of  the  thoughts  expressed,  but  the  construction  of 
the  sentence.  Both  these  princii)les,  to  be  sure, 
are  used  in  determining  the  rules  given  above  ;  but 
the  former  to  only  a  trifling  extent.  The  advan- 
tage in  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  any  pupil  properly 
trained  in  English  Grammar  can  grasp  the  dis- 
tinctions between  the  constructions  of  the  English 
language ;  while  questions  as  to  the  degree  of 
relationship  between  several  thoughts  are  difficult 
even  for  cultivated  and  disciplined  minds.  The  a 
'priori  system  must,,  therefore,  excel  in  clearness  and 
simplicity;  and  so  can  hardly  suffer  by  comparison 
with  codes  that  rest  upon  puzzling  and  abstract 
distinctions,  and  lack  clear  fundamental  truths  to 
serve  as  guiding  threads. 

The  hope  may  be  ventured,  therefore,  that  this 
essay  has  not  been  made  in  the  wrong  direction  ; 
and  that  by  the  side  of  the  way  here  pointed  out, 
there  may  be  erected,  not  the  sign  "]N"o  Thorough- 
fare," but  a  finger-board  inscribed  "  To  Consistent 
AND  Uniform  Punctuation." 


APPENDIX. 

I.   (Page  G.) 

The  following  examples  illustrate  the  relations 
of  Usage  to  its  underlying  principle  of  Good 
Sense. 

(A)  When  usage  is  settled,  a  sufficient  reason 
can  always  be  given  for  it  (1);  although  sometimes 
this  reason  only  accounts  for  the  usage,  without 
convincing  us  of  its  propriety  or  its  expediency 
(2).  Thus^  (1)  the  rule  that  requires  the  objective 
case  after  a  transitive  verb,  rests  upon  a  necessary 
law  of  thought;  but  (2)  the  spelling  of  '  number' 
with  a  '  b'  and  of  'sound'  with  a  'd,'  w^hile  it  can 
be  accounted  for,  cannot  be  shown  to  be  necessary.' 

(B)  AVhen  usage  is  unsettled,  good  sense  becomes 
the  arbiter,  and  would,  in  most  cases,  soon  compel 
assent,  if  men  were  always  able  to  be  convinced 
by  what  is  reasonable,  and  willing  to  be  guided 
by  it.  E.g,^  in  that  curious  case  of  attraction^ 
'these  kind  of  books,'  Dean  Altbrd  appeals  to 
usage.  But,  if  usage  were  not  divided,  no  person 
of  education  would  ever  be  guilty  of  such  a  sole- 

*  Latin  numerus  and  sonus.  Our  present  pronunciation  lias 
followed  upon  the  addition  of  the  *  b'  and  'd'.  '  Numb'  and 
Mimb'  (A.  S.  num  and  Urn)  are  correctly  enunciated  without 
the  *b\  and  'clime'  and  'climb'  are  distinguishable  only  by 
the  eye.   So,  '  gown'  hasjio  '  d',  except  in  provincial  utterance. 


the  e 


32  APPENDIX. 

cism.  When,  however,  we  see  that  the  construc- 
tion is  due  to  a  misconception  of  the  agreement 
of  the  pronoun,  and  ^^eflect  that  our  language  has 
never  adopted  attraction  as  a  general  principle  of 
Grammar,  the  vice  of  the  construction  is  at  once 
evident. 

(C)  That  usage  is  most  easily  unsettled  which 
does  not  rest  upon  necessary  truth.  [A  (2).]  In 
this  case,  either  of  three  results  ma}^  follow: — (1) 
the  usage  may  change;  (2)  it  may  become  obso- 
lete; or  (3)  two  forms  may  grow^  up  side  by  side 
in  the  language.  E.  g.^  (1)  the  termination  '  — or' 
has  long  contended  with  ' — our'  in  such  words  as 
'  honor,' Mabor,' g^r,\  Chaucer  wrote  ' — ure,' and 
Shakspere  ' — our';  but  before  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  Latin  influences  had  brought 
about  a  change.  Dr.  Johnson  (1755)  ''restored 
the  ancient  usage"  by  replacing  the  'u':  Web- 
ster (1828)  professed  to  do  the  same  thing  by  leav- 
ing it  out.  Tiie  letter  owed  its  place  in  the  words 
only  to  the  fact  that  they  were  all  derived  from  a 
French  form  in  ' — eur;'  and  it  was  certainly  a 
fair  question  wliether  English  should  follow  its 
French  or  its  Latin  predecessor.  In  the  United 
States,  the  change  may  be  said  to  have  been  ac- 
complished, except  for  the  one  word  '  Saviour':  in 
England,  usage  is  still  unsettled.  Oddly  enough, 
we  pronounce  the  'u'  (on-ur),  while  we  write  the 
'o'.  [Cy.  'neighbor',  from  '  neighbour',  and  this 
from  A.  S.  'nehgebur'.]  (2)  In  Shakspere  and 
other  older  writers  we  find   the  phrase  'a  many.' 


APPENDIX.  33 

Its  strangeness  wears  off,  wlien  we  reflect  that 
English  words  change  tlieir  "si^eech-part-ship" 
almost  at  will,  [Earle's  Philology^  Chap,  iv.,]  and 
that  this  usage,  resting  upon  no  unalterahle  law, 
has  simply  grown  obsolete.  (3)  The  oldest  Eng- 
lish knew  no  such  construction  as  'It  is  I',  but 
only  'It  is  me',  in  which  'me'  is  a  dative  case 
formed  in  imitation  of  the  French  '-c'est  moi.^ 
But  the  extended  use  of  Latin  by  men  who  knew 
that  language  far  better  than  they  knew  their  ver- 
nacular, led  to  the  formation  of  the  idiom  with 
the  nominative;  and  this,  although  such  a  phrase 
as 'JEs*^  <^^o' had  never  been  heard  in  Latin.  The 
older  idiom,  however,  did  not  die  out,  but  held  its 
place  (and  may  still  be  said  to  hold  its  place)  by 
the  side  of  the  new  construction.  For  'It  is  I',  it 
is  contended  that  our  language  no  longer  recog- 
nizes a  dative  case,  and  that  predicates  after  '  to 
be' all  take  the  nominative:  for 'It  is  me',  it  is 
said  that  in  all  the  languages  most  closely  related 
to  English,  we  find  either  'I  am  it',  (German  *- Ich 
bin  es\)  or  the  dative  after  'It  is',  (Danish  '  det  er 
mig^ ;)  while  in  Latin — w^hence  our  rule  for  the 
predicate-nominative — nien  wrote  only  ^Ego  sum\ 
(Greek  Ey6  siui.) 

II.  (Page?.) 

(1)  An  experienced  compositor,  appealed  to  on 
this  subject,  said  that  he  could  count  on  his  fin- 
ger-ends the  times  he  had  "  set  u[)"  the  colon  in 
twenty-five  years. 


84  APPENDIX. 

(2)  On  sixty-nine  octavo-page  lines  I  count  eigh- 
teen periods,  three  question-marks,  one  parenthesis, 
one  pair  of  dashes,  one  semi-colon,  and  one  colon, 
with  eighty-jive  commas.  Yet  the  sentences  are 
sometimes  long  and  involved.  In  over  four  hun- 
dred lines,  the  colon  is  used  but  seven  times,  and 
the  semi-colon  but  ten  times. 

III.   (Page  8.) 

A  few  words  may  be  added  upon  the  nature  and 
utility  of  punctuation-marks.  The  tests  com- 
monly oflered,  passages  from  which  the  points  have 
been  omitted,  are  sufficiently  familiar,  and  need 
not  be  repeated  here.  A  few  considerations  of  a 
different  character  may,  however,  be  presented. 

First,  the  existence  of  the  points  is  a  prima 
facie  proof  of  tlie  necessity  for  them.  Ancient 
MSS.,  indeed,  were  unpunctuated,  except  with  the 
period  ;  and  the  oldest  printed  books  used  no  other 
point.  But  printing  was  not  long  invented,  before 
the  need  of  more  points  was  felt,  and  the  other 
stops  followed : — the  colon, about  1485 ;  the  comma, 
about  1521;  the  semi-colon,  about  1570.  In  1587, 
Sir  Philip  Sidney's  Arcadia  was  printed  with  these 
four  marks  and  the  ?,  the  ''^  and  the  ( ).  The  scarcity 
of  books  and  the  comparative  fewness  of  readers 
of  books  among  the  ancients,  together  with  the 
wide-spread  ignorance  of  the  later  middle  ages, 
explain  how  men '' got  on"  so  well  without  the 
points.  But  it  could  have  been  only  measurably 
well.     The  men  of  the  old  world  must  have  read 


APPENDIX.  35 

more  slowly,  and  understood  less  readily  tban  we. 
To  be  sure,  the  only  possible  test  of  this, — the  omis- 
sion of  the  points  from  a  printed  page, — is  im- 
practicable ;  for  we  are  so  accustomed  to  the  pres- 
ent mode,  that  we  cannot  judge  of  the  appearance 
an  unpunctuated  page  preselited  to  the  ancient  eye. 
But,  from  a  parallel  case,  the  "  unpointed"  Hebrew 
Bible,  we  should  infer  the  impossibility  of  as 
rapid  reading  as  we  now^  find  possible.  It  is  true 
that  Hebrew  scholars  acquire  great  facility  in 
reading  Avithout  the  vowels;  and  it  is  confidently 
asserted  that,  while  the  language  was  spoken,  the 
absence  of  the  points  made  no  difference;  but  it 
by  no  means  necessarily  follows  that  time  was  not 
(and  is  not)  lost  by  the  fashion. 

Secondly^  we  may  estimate  the  value  of  our 
points  by  another  analogy.  The  railroad  "block- 
station"  is  furnished  with  signals  that  may  be 
read  at  a  great  distance  by  the  engineer  of  an 
approaching  train,  in  order  that  he  may  know  in 
advance  the  state  of  the  road.  By  their  advice 
he  stops,  approaches  cautiously,  or  shoots  ahead 
at  full  speed  without  risk  to  life  or  property. 
The  illustration  would,  perhaps,  have  been  more 
pertinent,  had  it  been  taken  from  the  permanent 
signs  by  the  road-side  which  w^arn  the  "driver" 
of  the  curve  or  switch  ahead,  or  bid  him  blow  his 
whistle  to  give  timely  notice  of  his  coming;  but 
either  figure  will  serve  to  make  it  clear  that, 
just  as  travel  was  much  less  rapid  in  the  days 
when  the  engineer  had  none  of  these  helps,  and 


36  APPENDIX. 

never  approached  a  station  except  at  a  slackened 
speed,  so  modern  readers  would  be  mucli  less  able 
to  "conquer  the  land"  of  books  which  they  are  in- 
vited to  "go  up  and  possess,"  had  they  no  points 
to  catch  the  eye  and  indicate  the  sense  as  they 
read.  Who  would  willingly  go  back  to  the  days 
when  the  train  ran  "only  in  clear  weather"? 

Thirdly^  if  this  be  true,  a  modern  reader,  of 
the  same  capacity  as  an  ancient,  can  accomplish 
a  far  greater  amount  of  work.  Consequently,  a 
life-time  is  now  just  so  much  longer  than  in  the 
days  that  are  gone; — a  blessing  that,  in  this  par- 
ticular, at  least,  we  owe  to  the  stops.  Hence, 
if  a  man  in  ou4'  century  can  read  two  books  to 
every  one  that  could  be  mastered  by  his  intellect- 
ual equal  in  1450,  this  tiling  that  our  stops  have 
done  for  us  should  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  them. 
We  might  almost  as  well  propose  to  return  from 
our  shapely,  well-printed  books  to  the  written 
parchments  of  the  past,  as  to  accept  any  view  of 
tlie  art  of  punctuation  that  treats  it  as  unimport- 
ant or  unnecessary.  By  corollary,  that  system  of 
punctuation  is  the  worthiest  w^liich  ensures  to  us 
the  greatest  consistency  and  uniformity  in  punc- 
tuating. For  the  best-punctuated  books  are  the 
most  easily  read,  and  read  in  the  largest  numbers. 


THE     END. 


\ 


^iff 


pj^m^^^ii:^'ms-k  ^v^itv^ . 


^ 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


